General Transcription: What Is It? What Does It Entail?

Danilo Coviello

If you had received below par transcripts, the chances are that you confused general transcription for legal transcription and medical transcription. While the terms all involve transcribing audio files into text formats, they differ in scope.

Indeed, general transcriptionists can handle a diverse range of transcription services. However, they can’t do a legal transcript perfectly as a legal transcriptionist; neither will they deliver a top-notch medical transcript like a medical transcriptionist.

So, to help you get better value when next you engage a transcription service provider, we have created this post. Here, you will understand what general transcription entails and who a general transcriptionist is.

More importantly, we shall discuss the roles and duties best suited to the skills of a general transcriptionist. That way, you will know whom to engage for your transcription services.

What Is General Transcription?

Transcription in general is an all-encompassing service that transcribes audio files into text formats, regardless of the industry. The only exceptions are the legal and medical fields. And even for legal matters that involve less use of legal terminologies, those often come within the premises of general transcription services.

In essence, general transcription is the kind that entails all forms of transcription, excluding medical transcription-related services.

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We understand that the definition might not yet be clear. In that case, we have compiled the categories that fall within the premises of general transcription services. Here are some of them:

What Does General Transcription Services Entail?

Transcription Of Course Contents

If you have used any of the numerous online learning platforms, you will often find a transcript of what the instructors say on the screen. Those kinds are often a function of a general transcription service.

You could even download the transcribed text or choose to first read before listening. Either way, such aids help you to boost learning and assimilation. And when you’re not a non-English learner, the transcripts are even of more use.

News Agencies And The Media

Your favourite radio shows, TV programs also use general transcription services. Often, in these kinds of contents, you hear routine grammar that even a child will understand.

In other words, the scope of news and media contents fit the general-purpose nature of general transcription.

Like radio and TV shows, podcasters also use general transcription for their audience. After a podcast, the chances are that listeners yet want a newsletter or a blog post. Fortunately, general transcriptions fit such purposes.

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Lastly, journalists equally use general transcription to gather information from interviews and recorded events. Listening to hours of tapes can be time-consuming, but with transcripts, journalists can hasten their investigations and reports.

Lectures, Presentations & Webcasts

Other niches that fit general transcription services are lectures and other forms of public speaking. The chances are the speakers at the events wanted a transcript for their next talk. The listeners and organizers might also need the transcribed files for documentation purposes.

Besides public speaking, organizations such as churches or even businesses might want to upload a webcast on their websites. In that case, a general transcript will work well for their audience/followers.

Video Marketing Services

Businesses add video content to their already existing blog posts for sales and SEO purposes. In that case, they need transcripts too.

Say you run a home renovation business and often post “how-to content,” you might want to add short videos to that to boost your authority even better. Then, you will need a general transcription service.

In a case where you plan to expand your business to other nationalities, the generated transcripts will make translations to other languages convenient and fast.

Besides SEO and content optimization, you can also use the transcripts of web conferences and e-seminars for training or lead research and generation.

Legal Transcription

Legal transcription can be tricky because while a few of it under general transcription services, other parts require special training. Regardless, you can engage a general transcriptionist for legal transcripts for cases such as clients’ testimonials, arguments, and settlements.

Note: any legal transcript requires that everyone involved signing a non-disclosure agreement.

Another industry similar to the law that a general transcriptionist can handle is insurance. Here, just like legal affairs, there are claims, settlements, and attorneys. Also, the cases of insurance often lead to court hearings and testimonies.

That brings us to the next question, what should you know about a general transcriptionist?

Read Also: Professional Transcriptionist: How To Get Started

Who Is A General Transcriptionist?

A general transcriptionist is a person who transcribes audio and video into text documents, regardless of the industry. In other words, s/he can transcribe any file as much as you indicate your interest and set the guidelines.

The only limitation is that a general transcriptionist might not fully understand the scope of technical industries such as law and medicine. In that case, you might need a specialized expert.

Nevertheless, you should know that people who eventually become legal or medical transcriptionists were once the general kinds. The only difference is that now, they have undergone a series of training and understand the terms of the technical industries.

That said, what assignments can you delegate to a general transcriptionist?

What Are The Usual Duties Of General Transcriptionists?

Before we delve into the specifics of what general transcriptionists do, you should know that they are often at the start of their career. As such, you might experience a few lapses in the transcripts, especially if it’s an industry that the transcriptionist doesn’t quite understand yet.

However, general transcriptionists learn fast and soon take up new and specialized career paths. Now, you understand the gap and what you should seek.

That said, regardless of the career path, knowledge or experience of a general transcriptionist, s/he can transcribe recordings of:

● Business meetings,

● College lectures and training,

● Court hearings (legal transcription),

● Dictations,

● Forums & meetings,

● Interviews,

● Teleconferences, and workshops,

● Manuscripts and script correspondence,

● Phone and personal conversations,

● Reports,

● Speeches, etc.

Why General Transcriptionists Don’t Handle Medical Transcription Services

General transcriptionists don’t perform medical transcription because it requires special medical-related training. While s/he can transcribe a select part of legal details, medical offerings are much more difficult to transcribe and require a medical background.

With such limitations, it is best to work with a company that provides all kinds of transcription services. Else, you will hire and manage different transcriptionists – that would be hectic.

Why not engage a full-range transcription service provider like Espresso Translations and save yourself the stress?

Read Also: Legal Transcriptionist – All You Need To Know

Let Espresso Translations Help You With All Your Transcription Needs!

With Espresso Translation, you won’t worry about the limitations of general transcriptionists. Here, we have experts across all types of transcription services. Be it general, medical, or legal transcript, we can help you.

Beyond transcription, we can also help you translate your transcribed documents into up to 150 languages. We have expert linguists that will fine-tune your transcripts to meet the requirements of your audience regardless of their location.

So, schedule a meeting and let’s discuss your needs!

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